There are two inseparable factors that can make or break a manufacturing business: supply and demand. Without the right data, these factors can seem unpredictable. Sudden changes in demand can wipe out companies that don’t act quickly enough to satisfy customers. It can feel like a hurricane blew through unannounced — without data, that is. A healthy, state-of-the-art enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution can act like a meteorologist for demand, allowing companies to strategically control supply. Anticipating Demand Demand is…

The Internet of Things (IoT) — or the global system of wirelessly interconnected devices — has emerged as an essential driver of global industry. More than five million new devices are connected each day; by 2020, analysts forecast that nearly 21 billion devices will be connected online. The Aerospace and Defense industry was an early adopter of IoT, and has already demonstrated the benefits and the necessity of such technology. How has the digital transformation arisen in A&D? what specific…

Cre8tive Technology and Design is excited to announce its partnership with Century Business Solutions to allow credit card processing directly within Epicor 10. After evaluating several different payment options, Century Business Solutions stood out as the premier payment provider for the Epicor 10 integration. The credit card module will utilize Century’s proprietary payment gateway, EBizCharge, to provide credit card processing for thousands of merchants across the country. “We strive to provide our customers with solutions that bring great value and…

When looking for an ERP system, you want to find a solution that will support not only your needs today, but also the needs that the future will bring. For many in manufacturing, that future is one involving additive manufacturing methods. Additive manufacturing — or AM, commonly referred to as 3D printing — has already revolutionized industries from healthcare to consumer electronics to the automotive sector. Now, additive manufacturing is coming to the aerospace and defense industry. The creation of new…

In the competitive global marketplace, reducing operational costs and running a leaner, more efficient operation are goals on every company’s radar. Of course, it’s essential that product quality not be compromised by any changes make for the sake of efficiency. Effective quality control management is paramount. Using the cost of quality metric, it's possible to monitor precisely how much capital goes into maintaining the optimal level of quality not only on the production floor, but within all business operations. By…

Cre8tive Technology & Design has been named one of the 20 most promising providers of defense sector technology solutions by CIO Review. This distinction is a testament to the quality and effectiveness of the enterprise solutions that Cre8tive provides to its growing list of Aerospace and Defense clients. The nationwide list of companies, which you can find here, includes some of the world’s largest organizations in the Aerospace and Defense sector, including Honeywell International and Lockheed Martin. As CIO Review…

In the recent ERP Cybersecurity Survey 2017, the most-cited cyber defense measures that respondents were taking were penetration testing or security assessments from a third-party cybersecurity provider. That sounds great — until you read the numbers. Only 33% of respondents had actually conducted such a test or assessment. In fact, respondents weren’t even in agreement on which C-level executive’s job includes protecting the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The poll surveyed companies in industries ranging from healthcare to government…

The ability to hardwire best practices into business operations is more important today than ever before. American manufacturing companies are reaching a crisis point: an estimated 3.5 million skilled manufacturing jobs will need to be filled over the next decade as the baby-boomer generation retires. With this shift comes the retirement of valuable institutional knowledge. Investing in a cutting-edge ERP for your company means you have a way to maintain that knowledge, which will allow you to better bridge the…

An efficient and lean production pipeline is integral to the success of any manufacturing operation, regardless of size. The best way to effectively oversee all elements of these operations is to invest in an enterprise resource planning solution — ERP, for short. As a small manufacturing company owner, you have the best sense of what works for your operation. Up until this point, that may have been logging your information using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, your email service, or even by…

The Industrial Revolution, wherein man harnessed mechanical power and new agricultural techniques to achieve great modes of production, forever changed global economics. In the centuries since, the world has experienced two further technological revolutions: the second saw mass production and assembly lines alongside the commodification of electricity, and the third centered on the shrinking of the computer chip to enhance automation. In the early decades of the 21st century, the fourth revolution has dawned: cyber-connected physical systems. Hallmarks of the…